1. Technical Field
The invention relates to personal computer security. More particularly, the invention relates to regulating user access control to computing environments using personalized smart cards.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The current computing environment requires users, in general, to physically carry either a laptop or a notebook portable computer in order to maintain a fully functional, truly personalized, computing environment when moving from place to place. Because laptop and notebook computers, though physically small, are comparatively bulky and heavy, mobile computer users continuously seek ever smaller and lighter devices that will provide and maintain their personalized computing-environment.
An example of such a smaller and lighter device that has recently enjoyed significant commercial popularity is the personal digital assistant (“PDA”). However, even though PDAs are smaller and lighter than laptop or notebook computers and provide a personalized computing environment, they do not presently offer the full functionality of desktop, laptop or notebook portable computers.
For example, when a PDA is removed from an environment in which a computer user has a fully functional computing environment, the PDA must first be loaded with an up-to-date image of data for pertinent portions of that environment, e.g., an address book, calendar, email, etc. Similarly, when a PDA returns to the fully functional computing environment, data in the PDA that has changed since leaving the fully functional computing environment must be transferred and/or synchronized from the PDA back into the user's regular computer and vice versa.
Desktop computers capable of accessing the Internet are ubiquitous in industrialized countries worldwide. A computer user, while traveling, can usually obtain access to such a computer and use that computer's Internet access to communicate worldwide. With sufficient data and appropriately configured, such computers could, in principle, provide mobile computer users with a fully functional personal computing environment. However, establishing a mobile computer user's fully functional computing environment at a remote or transitory location, e.g., in an airport kiosk or overnight lodging, requires error-free entry of a prodigious amount of highly detailed information to configure the local computer.
The amount of information required to configure a local computer so it provides the mobile computer user's fully functional, personal computing environment is disproportionately large in comparison with the benefit obtained. Consequently, there presently does not exist any convenient hardware and software that permits mobile computer users to move from computer to computer anywhere in the world, carrying with them their personalized, fully functional computing environment.
Further, with users migrating from desktop computer to desktop computer or using a portable laptop computers, corporate IT groups (as well as individual computer owners) need to regulate the usage of company (and personal) computers. Access to these computers are presently limited to username and password entry. Upon the correct entry of a username and password, a user is allowed access to a “secure” computer. However, usernames and passwords are easily obtained.
Presently, smart cards are used primarily for facilitating financial transactions. However, because smart cards include at least a limited amount of non-volatile readable and writeable memory and may also include a programmable processor, they inherently possess a capability for use in applications other than financial transactions. Storing data into a smart card, accessing that data, and activating a smart card's processor to execute a computer program all require that the smart card be interconnected with some type of reader/terminal. This characteristic of smart cards limits the potential for broadening their use for mobile computing applications because, in general, there does not presently exist an infrastructure that supports the use of smart cards for applications other than financial transactions.
It would be advantageous to provide a smart card enabled secure computing environment system that allows a user or system administrator to configure a computer to regulate usage and access to the computer based on information contained in a user's smart card. It would further be advantageous to provide a smart card enabled secure computing environment system that gives the user or system administrator the flexibility of regulating usage of a computer based on time or duration of use on a per smart card basis.